Don't forget to wear your red nose!

For the last several years, we have had a tiny tree, as tiny as two feet high and fake, to about four feet high and real. We had the fake tree when Joe was working most nights and weekends and we simply couldn't get out to get a real tree. When we moved, we decided that a real tree was necessary, but we kept it on the small side because, well, apartment. This year we...
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Oh hi, Polar Vortex, soon to be unseasonably warm spell! It's really cold tonight and it's going to snow. And sleet. And rain, both freezing and not. By this time tomorrow night, God knows what the conditions will be, but the precipitation will be over. It's going to be dangerously cold tonight, but by Sunday noon it will be over 60 degrees. What the hell, weather? I spent several weeks one frigid winter on the...
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Before we moved up to the Philly area, I rode the DC Metro Red Line to work every day. For quite awhile, I took pictures of the urban art that appeared along the way. I really haven't done that since we moved. There are some impressive pieces along I-95 and I-76, but we're usually traveling way too fast for me to capture a decent image. When we were in Dublin, though, I was able to...
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On our last day in Dublin, we walked over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. We had "skip the line" tickets -- I was really glad that I got them, too. The line was long and it was drizzling, so the fact that we could walk right up and go in was a real bonus, and kept us from succumbing to damp crabbiness. Still, it was crowded. Trinity has set up the...
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One fine day in the olden days (1976), Sidewall Sam* and I were sitting in the doorway of his van enjoying the fine spring air. We were in Huntsville, Alabama; the circus was set up in a mall parking lot. It was between shows, late afternoon, a quiet time when most of the performers were fixing supper and the gazoonies and workin' men were passed out. I was feeling particularly good -- the lot was...
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Between Avoca and Glendalough is a tiny jewel of a park: the Meeting of the Waters. At this point, the River Avonbeg ("small river" in Gaelic) and the River Avonmore ("big river") join to form the River Avoca ("Avoca"). The meeting at the Meeting of the Waters The River Avoca is straight ahead, with the River Avonbeg to the right and the River Avonmore to the left. Behind is the wee park, which features a...
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On our fourth day in Dublin, Joe and I went on an Easter Rising walking tour. During the walk, our guide Rory took us to landmarks around Dublin that were important during the Rising. Rory tells us all about the Rising The Easter Rising, for those who don't know, was an armed rebellion led primarily by the Irish Republican Brotherhood against the British occupation of the country. On April 24, 1916, at noon, Patrick Pearse...
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I haven't done the Saturday 9 in a while, so why not now? Saturday 9: Snowbird (1971) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 1) In this song, Elvis wants the snowbird to fly away and take the snow back with her. Have you seen a measurable snowfall yet this season? Not yet, but we're supposed to get a little bit this weekend. It won't be much if we do, and it's just as...
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So, John Sherck of Where's My Plan? wrote a great Holidailies post about coffee! When I read it, I thought, "What a great subject! I shall steal also write about it!" I, personally, have a great relationship with coffee. I come by it honestly - my parents were both coffee drinkers, especially my Pop. When he wasn't drinking bourbon or vodka, he was drinking coffee. Of course, he drank coffee at breakfast time, but he...
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The whole raison d'etre for our trip to Ireland was so that my sister could visit Avoca, the Irish village where the BBC series Ballykissangel was filmed. I found a great tour that stopped in Avoca, so off we went! We had a small group, only nine people. We took the train to Wicklow - a beautiful trip along the east coast of Ireland - and then picked up our coach. Well, we were supposed...
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